Fairy Tail Week
by DancesWithSeatbelts
Summary: A collection of drabbles from tumblr prompts to celebrate Fairy Tail. Fairy, Ladies, Lads, Magic, Guild, Ultimate Team, Stronger, Mashima, Tail. Only rated teen to err on the side of caution, family friendly content featuring most of the Fairy Tail Guild! The last prompt today, thanks for reading!
1. Fairy

Max locked himself inside the broom closet. No matter how many apologies were shouted through the door, right now he refused to socialize with his guild mates. Maybe later he could laugh and agree it had been a jolly misunderstanding, but not yet. The pain was too fresh. He hadn't been physically hurt, but the events of this morning were etched in his mind. If he was lucky, he'd only start drinking, a _little _more.

He knew he wasn't the strongest mage, but he wasn't the weakest. Max had lots of friends and people genuinely liked him. He wasn't the smartest pumpkin in the patch, but he was smart enough; this one unlucky eight hour shift had challenged his mental stability. Max whimpered a little as he remembered the highlight of his first hour on the job today.

* * *

"For the last time Max, I didn't move your figurines around!" Mira was still smiling sweetly, but her left eye _was_ beginning to twitch. "I know how particular about having the merchandise set out, 'just so'. Maybe the last customer put all of Evergreen's models there."

Max began rearranging his display, sorting out the Evergreen figures and setting them back onto the 'Raijinshuu' labelled shelf. "Thanks for watching the stall for me and opening it on time, I had some extra sweeping to do this morning."

Somewhat satisfied, Mira grinned toothily at the sand mage. "You're welcome, don't forget there's going to be a large crowd visiting the guild later. Master said to make sure everything was stocked up and in perfect order."

Lisanna called out to her sister and Mira flounced away, leaving Max staring thoughtfully at his display. He went into the back of the stall and rummaged in his cleaning supplies. Once out front again, he used his feather duster on the highest shelf. _**Wasn't this full a minute ago?**_ Max took a step back and turned around, running his eyes over the scattered tables and assorted mages.

"Natsu? How long have you and Gray been playing checkers at that table?"

The slayer responded without looking up, "It feels like forever."

"No, I mean, did you see anyone walk past my store just now?"

"I gotta watch the board or Gray cheats." That inflammatory statement earned Natsu a punch to the head.

"You wanna go Flame Breath?" Gray didn't wait for an answer and threw another fist.

"Oh, I will kick your ass, Ice Princess!" Natsu flipped the board and the two mages began brawling in earnest.

Max shrugged and refilled the topmost shelf with fresh 'Evergreen' figurines. He waved 'hello' to the Connell family. Alzack and Bisca were swinging Asuka between them. The little girl giggled and begged her parents to bring her to the merchandise stall.

"Is there something special you want to see?" Max asked the little girl.

"Do you have fairies? Mommy says if I'm good I'm certain to see fairies."

"Sorry, no we don't. We can't be certain if they exist or have tails either."

"You have room for them, don't you? Maybe they just need a place to be!" Asuka bounced up on the tip of her toes and smiled so sweetly, Max just _had_ to do something for the little girl.

"I'll empty a spot on one of my shelves and label it for 'fairies', just for you! Maybe one will show up."

"I'm gonna be so good your shelf will be full of fairies!" Asuka clapped her hands and dimpled.

Bisca picked up Asuka and settled her on her hip. "That's so nice of you, you're going to be a great dad one day."

He blushed and waved goodbye to the Connells. Beginning to whistle, he cleared out a spot for potential fairies and even attached a sign. Pleased with his efforts, he jumped over the counter and rooted underneath for some red scraps of wall paper he'd used for some old art project.

Max trimmed the paper and went to place it on the shelf, only to find it full of Erza's figures. He rubbed his eyes and checked where the Erza statues were supposed to be, only to see that location empty

"Ha, ha! Funny guys! You can stop it any time now!" Max glared at Jet and Droy who were strolling past the storefront.

The duo from the Shadow Gear Team turned to face the somewhat angry sand mage. Droy spoke, "What do you mean, 'stop it any time'? We'll never stop loving Levy!"

"Our love isn't funny!" Jet huffed, "You have some nerve. Our conversation was private, we don't tell you who to love and you don't get to tell us that either."

"S-sorry, I thought you had... I mean there's no one else close, and... uh, just, sorry." Max trailed away with his inept explanation. "Carry on." Feeling the start of a headache, Max rubbed his temples and continued to stock up his merchandise.

His whole shift had followed that pattern. It seemed that as soon as his back was turned, his merchandise would begin to travel. On his lunch break he'd closed up the stall for a half hour and returned to find fully half of his stock returned to storage. One bathroom break after that, he'd found all of his dragon slayer figures missing their exceed partners. Each time his attention strayed, his beloved merchandise paid the price.

* * *

From inside the closet, Max felt another twinge squeeze his brain. He massaged his forehead, trying to soothe the ruckus inside his skull. Several of his guild mates were trying to apologize at once - the disharmony of voices was deepening his pain. One voice rose above the others, becoming comprehensible.

"It is man to apologize. I'm sorry I took the Evergreen merchandise to print 'Fairy of the Guild' on the bases without asking." Now in front of the supply closet where Max was seeking refuge, Elfman stood resolute. His head slightly lowered and his hands clenched at his sides, "It was the gesture of a caring man, that's all I can say." Elfman moved away and the next mage stood in front of the door.

"I apologize Max!" Lucy laced her fingers tightly together, "I accidently knocked over the Erza figures and put them back in the first spot that looked like there was enough room." She blushed and vacated the spot in front of the door.

Levy prodded Gajeel. He twisted his surly features into less of a sulk. "I'm sorry you didn't have enough of me'n'Lily figures." He started to walk away, but a savage pinch stayed him. "I mean, I'm sorry I was messing with your merchandise all day because I was jealous." Gajeel turned a delicate shade of pink to see Levy's approval, stomping away to cover his embarrassment.

Mira pushed her way to the front of the queue. She was smiling brightly, holding the sullen Laxus' ear captive. Her savage hold tightened, prompting Laxus to speak, "I only kept moving the Mavis statues back into the fairy location because she was crying about it. Gramps told me to keep her happy - "

Laxus broke off his half-assed apology to listen to Mirajane hissing something into his ear. He flushed, swallowed heavily and continued, "I'm really very sorry that you feel so bad." Laxus sighed in relief as the demon barmaid released his ear to grab his hand and lead him away.

Max began to calm down; the voices on the other side of the door were quieter and far less rowdy, allowing him to think clearly. It had only _seemed_ like someone was trying to drive him crazy. Now that he had more information, it was really a case of his nakama being themselves.

They hadn't been trying to make him lose his sanity by rearranging his merchandise - they'd been trying to make each other happy and clean up after themselves. Gajeel, well, at least he'd only moved things around and hadn't destroyed anything. That's an improvement of sorts. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Max relaxed further. "Thanks for the apologies, I still need some alone time."

"Come on out now Mr. Max! 'Member what I said about being good?" The childish voice of Asuka piped, "There's a real fairy I want to show you!"

Bisca and Alzack shared a smile. They stood behind Asuka as she knocked on the broom closet door and continued to address Max. "She's so pretty! You're gonna love it!"

All of the adult's blandishments plus the little girl's encouragement had Max wavering whether or not to exit the closet. Asuka's last words softened his heart the rest of the way. Max unlocked the door and slowly stepped out. "Asuka, you say there's a fairy for me to see?"

Asuka nodded happily and took one of Max's hands, leading him to the merchandise stall. It had been cleaned and arranged into perfect order. Every figure was arrayed in military precision. In the middle of the 'fairy' labelled shelf stood a beautiful blonde doll. It had two sets of gossamer wings that shimmered in the light. Her dress was a deep green, with a scoop neckline and short tiered skirt. She had a serene look on her face and held a thick wooden wand.

Asuka pointed to it and smiled at Max, "We musta both been good! She's a really, really pretty fairy!"

Max smiled to hear the heartfelt belief in the little girl's words. "You're right, we both must've been good, that has to be the most beautiful fairy I've ever seen!" He reached out and lifted the figure. Turning it, he realised the wand was in fact a broom and had been recently glued into place.

"Don't be upset any more Max!" Asuka waved goodbye as her parents led her away. Outside of the guild, Alzack swung his little girl into his arms. She threw her arms around his neck and addressed both of her parents, "I hope Mr. Max takes good care of Dolly. He cheered right up when he saw her, didn't he?"

* * *

Max kept the fairy doll on display with a big 'not for sale' sign next to it. Many customers asked what a fairy was doing with a broom in its hand, but he only ever smiled and said it was also a mystery if it had a tail or not.


	2. Ladies

The first Little Ladies Magnolia Beauty and Enlightenment Pageant was the last. There had been such a surge of interest in promoting positive role models that the one hundred application forms printed out had been exhausted within the first hour of the contest being announced. Both mothers and fathers of young and not so youngish girls had seized the papers and filled the questionnaire with interminably vague character descriptions and career aspirations.

Having the forms being all used up was no reason for the contest never to be repeated. The generous prize money was not a valid excuse either, nor was the sudden influx of curious tourists. The reason the Little Ladies Magnolia Beauty and Enlightenment Pageant was the first and last of its kind was due to the inadvertent efforts of the resident magical guild residing inside of Magnolia.

Fairy Tail was a good magical guild, a hard working guild, a guild of wizards who would bend over backward to help the citizens. It was also a guild that would work ceaselessly and wreak inadvertent havoc to achieve its own goals. Sometimes, Fairy Tail was its own worst enemy.

Alzack and Bisca had entered their precious child Asuka into the pageant. She had the looks - she was admittedly adorable. She had talent, a dead-eye aim with guns. She had the support of her entire guild, and that was the beginning and end of her aspirations. Asuka didn't want to win to promote a positive roll model for other children, she didn't want to win for the money either. Asuka only wanted to win to make her parents happy.

A week before the pageant was scheduled to begin, almost every female of the guild came forward to Bisca and volunteered advice. Evergreen gave an hour long demonstration of how to glare and sashay. Erza presented the five best ways to cut servings of cake, Laki tried to give a condensed lesson in wood carving, and Levy gave a binder full of answers to popular pageant questions (many of the answers were 'world peace'). Lucy offered her spirit Cancer's assistance with coiffure, Lisanna and Mira volunteered to cheerlead from the audience and Cana declared she would read the cards to determine which opponents should be 'taken care of'.

Wendy had her own problems, having been enlisted into the pageant by Master Makarov in the preteen age category. She was embarrassed and just a little bit miffed all of the ladies of the guild were concentrating on building Asuka's confidence for the contest. Romeo was a stalwart supporter, as was Max and Wakaba. The male members of Fairy Tail mostly told Wendy to just be herself and make sure she shook her hair around a fair bit.

This advice calmed and gave her the creeps. Not the 'be yourself' advice, the 'shake your hair' comment gave her the willies. The boys also told her not to change her mode of dressing. It was almost enough to make the poor girl to run out and purchase nothing but long pants, but Charle insisted with her precognitive power, that nothing would come of such things. Elfman was also very supportive of Wendy's entry into the contest, but he was under the misapprehension that the contest had something to do with 'Little Ladies seeking Enlightened Men'. The previous week, Natsu had accidently punched him in the ear, and his hearing wasn't back to normal as yet.

The day of the contest was beautiful, a calm and sunny day. Each young girl paraded on stage and demonstrated a talent. Never had so many little girls warbled off-key in so few hours. Each age range answered the same tired set of questions and smiled with teeth shined with precision. Soon enough from the hundred hopeful contestants; eighty percent had been culled, leaving Asuka and Wendy in the 'lucky' remainder.

Thankfully, neither girl had had to resort to using the odd bits and pieces their friends had insisted on assisting with. Another round of elimination sent half of the young ladies off to cry and soon Asuka and Wendy were on stage with only eight other girls.

The genial host made his rounds and stirred up the audience. He requested that all of the lovely ladies begin demonstrating their talents yet again, all at the same time. Trying their hardest; Wendy began sucking in huge breaths of air to fuel her magic, and Asuka drew her shiny cap gun and began to do her quick-draw routine.

Most of the guild mates were seated together in the audience. The ladies of Fairy Tail were chanting and clapping for Asuka to win and most of the men were clapping and chanting for Wendy to do her best. Friendly rivalries were beginning to get out of hand. The other citizens of Magnolia were cheering for the other young ladies on the stage and especially for one cute girl whose talent was spinning a fire-lit baton.

Perhaps the planning committee of Magnolia should have realized allowing the rowdiest and most accident prone of wizard guilds to enter any contestants into a contest was not the best choice. Perhaps the group in charge should have refunded the entry fee for both Wendy and Asuka and just begged for forgiveness. Perhaps the master of ceremonies should not have said, 'Audience, show your appreciation for your favourite! All of the young ladies will show off their talents at the same time!'

Wendy used her sky dragon roar to great effect at first, making a ribbon dance in a column of air. It was when one of the contestants shoved the fire-baton twirler into her controlled air stream that things heated up rapidly. Asuka's quick draw routine was adorable, but the noise of her caps coupled with the now super-fuelled fiery baton had the rest of the competing girls shrieking and flailing.

The baton twirler threw her flaming stick of death away and into the stage curtains. Screams from the audience didn't help matters either. Wendy immediately ceased her sky dragon roar, but the damage was done. The bale of straw that one girl used in demonstrating her talent was blazing furiously. All of the girls rushed off the stage and the crowd watching struggled to their feet intent on escaping.

Lucy pulled Aquarius' key out and hesitated, addressing her companions, "You know this might not be the best solution, right?" Sighing, she called out to the water-bearer for assistance. So; in the end, the auditorium did not burn down. Instead, the first and last Little Ladies Magnolia Beauty and Enlightenment Pageant was a wash-out.


	3. Lads

All of the girls seated around the Strauss family room had a drink either in hand or within reach. Mira set down a tray of snacks and addressed Lucy, "It's your turn to give us a 'lads will be lads' story. What's the silliest thing Natsu has done, lately?"

Lucy squirmed in her seat and took a large gulp of her drink. She looked into the half empty glass like it might issue her a permission slip to avoid sharing. "I thought it was Bisca's turn next."

"I might as well tell a story sooner than later, I have a date with my family tonight." Bisca leaned back in her over-stuffed chair and began to tap her chin. A wide smile swept over her face and she giggled. "I trust Alzack with anything and everything, but he cannot follow a recipe worth a plugged nickel. It was his turn to cook supper; we had extra apples and he said he'd make applesauce, so he asked me what goes into it."

Bisca looked at each of the girls listening intently, "I told him; chop up the apples, add a splash of lemon juice and a little bit of water. All you have to do is cook it over low heat until it softens and stir it once in a while. I go back to playing with Asuka and he calls us when he's ready to serve dinner. It was a little browner than I thought it should be, but I shovel some on a spoon and put it in my mouth. Well, I taste it and the spoon goes right back in and I scoop it right back out and dump it on my plate. It was musty. I didn't know food could be murdered."

Both Levy and Lisanna snickered, smug because the men in their lives understood cooking. Lucy smiled and nodded, still worrying over which tale to share. Erza was quiet and contemplative, perhaps saying a prayer for any innocent strawberries unlucky enough to be prepared by Alzack. The rest of the ladies tittered, imagining how sour and unpleasant it must have tasted.

"Girls, he ate every last bit of the portion he gave himself. It turns out he decided to spice things up and used apple cider vinegar, just because it had 'apple' in it. And it's somehow my fault I have it in the kitchen. It's not like I had it on the countertop, it was on a top shelf with all my pickling spices. And now I'm not sure if I'm as good a cook as I think I am, or if his taste buds have been dead this whole time."

Erza set down her plate with a thump. "I will share a humorous anecdote." She laced her fingers together and set them in her lap. "I was walking in the forest with...a friend. My companion plucked a wildflower and inhaled its fragrance before handing it to me. I did not tell... my friend that there was pollen on their nose, and allowed them to traipse about all day wearing it."

Kinana giggled, "Jellal must've looked so cute!"

Erza stammered, "I-I d-didn't say it was Jellal!"

"Erza is not fooling anyone! Juvia will share a story now!" The water mage clapped her hands and beamed, "Gray-sama rubs Juvia's feet every night!"

"That's sweet, but it's not really a 'lads will be lads' story." Evergreen crossed her arms and frowned. "It is his duty as your husband to rub your pregnant ankles. It's his fault." She squinted her eyes and gazed at the unmarried girls, using her pointer finger to push her glasses up higher. "You don't know how childish a certain man sounds, decrying everything to be 'manly' to all and sundry."

Ever took a sip of her wine and continued her anecdote. "I can never go back to the store nearest our house." She preened as all the women leaned forward, listening intently. "We were shopping for some necessities and we were in line to pay. I'd forgotten tampons and sent him to pick up a package." Ever paused, smug in the knowledge she had her audience in the palm of her hand. "He bellows out 'which brand do you want', I tell him and he's all 'tampons are man!'"

Cana snorted, only narrowly avoiding spitting out a precious mouthful of beer. "Sounds like you were the only one embarrassed."

Looking a little confused, Ever cocked her head to the side, "Aren't 'lads will be lads' stories meant to show how foolish men can be?"

"Feminine products are a fact of life, and you're really lucky Elfman isn't ashamed to carry them to you." Mira cackled, "Of course, little brother Elf has had many years of getting used to that sort of thing. Usually men are pretty delicate when it comes to feminine products - but not as squeamish as a certain Lightning Dragon Slayer over his secret fear."

Ever shrugged, "I've been a part of the Raijinshuu for a long time and Laxus has never behaved any inch less the leader. He can do anything."

The demon take-over mage arched a delicate brow. "Really? Do you know who kills the vermin in this house? Two guesses, and it's not Laxus."

"Really?" Levy giggled louder than all the other women. "I have a good one to share about Gajeel! On our first date, he took me canoeing. I had never been and he bragged how good he was and he'd given others lessons. So he's in the front and I'm at the back. We paddle across the lake and then follow the shoreline. I'm watching the romantic scenery and busy obeying his orders, 'sit still', 'lean to the left', 'your other left'. I don't notice the canoe filling up with water until it gets up higher on my shoes. He's facing forward and can't see what's behind him. Before I can use a 'solid script plug' the damn thing has sunk and I'm up to my neck in swampy water, my feet up to my ankles in soft mud. I abandon everything to get out of the water."

Levy rolled her eyes, "He's pushing the canoe full of water to the shore and he doesn't realize once if he tips it over and empties it, it will be waaaaay easier to manoeuvre. I felt bad after though, I got grossed out by the sucking mud - I practically jumped out of the water and didn't help him."

Laki patted the petite girl on her shoulder, "Don't worry about that, most likely you were both anxious with first date jitters."

"I never thought of it that way - thanks." Levy grinned, "We've had lots of better dates since then."

"It would be hard not to!" Cana laughed until tears wet her cheeks.

"Sounds like you're next Cana." Mira smiled sweetly. "Tell us about your first encounter with Bacchus."

"You guys already know how he stole my favourite top. Wouldn't you rather hear about the first time he -" Cana broke off her anecdote, "Maybe I'll share that some other time when more of you girls are married and can understand what happens when hand-holding isn't enough."

Mira clapped her hands, "Right! Lucy, times up. One more story before Bisca has to leave."

Lucy chuckled nervously. "Um, okay. Natsu has enriched my life in so many ways, he's silly, strong, at times childish, and still my best friend. I want to share a story that shows his sterling qualities."

The blonde surveyed her audience. The other mages chorused their assent and Lucy continued. "Mira asked what's the silliest thing he's done lately - and I have a surprising answer for that. You remember a week ago we had a chilli cook-off?"

Erza nodded, "We all know this story - Natsu burned a big cauldron of chilli so badly there was half a foot of charcoal at the bottom."

Levy said, "My solid script magic hasn't been able to clean it either."

Cana added, "The smell was so sickening I almost couldn't finish my drink."

Lucy bit her lip, setting her now empty glass down. "It was my fault it burned. Natsu took the blame before I could say anything and -" A loud knocking interrupted the story. Lucy broke off from her tale as Mira excused herself to answer the door.

Natsu followed Mira into the family room and grabbed Lucy's hand. "Didja forget our plans?"

"No, but I was in the middle of telling a story."

"Hurry up and finish it, then we can go!" Natsu grinned and looked with friendly enthusiasm at the ladies of Fairy Tail.

Lucy started to finish her anecdote, "Okay, so it was really my fault the chilli burned -"

The slayer grinned even wider, "I know this one! Every body has been blaming me for that and it's kinda only half my fault."

Cana said, "Lucy was telling us it was her fault only."

"Natsu, we should get going!" Lucy started tugging the male towards the exit.

"The chilli burned because Lucy doesn't do anything half-assed."

"Really?" Levy egged Natsu on, "Tell us more."

"We've gotta go now!" Lucy pulled harder on Natsu's arm.

Cana held her cards in her hand, "Tell us or I'll read it from the cards. Natsu? Lucy? We don't care which one of you fesses up -"

"Lucy kissed me in the kitchen and my fire got a little out-of-control and -"

Lucy clapped a hand over Natsu's mouth, "We're going now, bye!"

The front door slammed shut almost an instant later and the women of the guild sat staring speechless at each other. Mira was the first to recuperate. She leapt to her feet and ran over to her book shelf, digging in the piles of small notebooks. Clutching a bright pink and yellow spiral bound notepad, Mira skipped back over to her friends. "Finally! The jackpot on this one was getting dangerously big! Now, which one of you fine ladies had last week down in the betting pool?"


	4. Magic

Mirajane beamed at Master Makarov as she handed him a perspiring glass of lemonade. He took a sip and pouted, "Where's the magic ingredient in this?"

The demon barmaid giggled and responded, "Porlyusica said to limit your alcohol intake to three drinks a day until she checks on you again."

He sighed and settled further into his patio chair, waving her off. Makarov watched his brats carousing in the new pool, the adults shrieking and behaving worse than five year-old Asuka. She was splashing gently with her mother and father, while Natsu was demonstrating a German suplex on a wildly wriggling Lucy.

The guild master wiped his suddenly sweaty palms on his loud patterned board shorts and smiled widely. He cheered Lucy's dunking so vigorously, he spattered drink on his lap.

"Master, are you having fun staring at Lucy?" Mira stood behind her guild leader with crossed arms.

"Ye- ah, I didn't see you there, Mira my dear." Makarov rattled his ice cubes in his drink. "I don't suppose I could have a refill?" Swivelling in his seat, he quickly made eye contact with Mirajane. "I only drink because of you brats."

"One last drink Master, or Porlyusica will give your liver a new home if you keep trying to kill it." Mira waggled her finger under his nose, "She promised a nasty gaping wound." With one last smile, Mira left.

Master Makarov wasn't alone for long, Mavis appeared wearing a modest two piece swimsuit. "I want you to swim with me!" She pouted, her lip trembled and Makarov could feel the drink he hadn't received yet getting warm.

"Laxus!"

The lightning dragon slayer looked up from his magazine.

"Laxus m'boy, amuse First!"

Mavis squealed and clapped her hands. Laxus glowered at his grandfather but forced a smile for the ghost girl. She held out her hand and reluctantly the mage dropped his copy of Sorcerer's Weekly.

Mira arrived just as Laxus caught Mavis jumping into the pool. "I'm proud of you Master!" He huffed and accepted his fresh drink, taking a long sip. "Poor Laxus was sitting on the sidelines for so long. It's just so nice of you to look out for him!"

"Yes, that's what I was doing. Heh, I should be rewarded with a double, don't you think?"

"Don't push your luck!" Mira dimpled and winked at Makarov, "I'll be checking up on you." She hefted her full tray higher, "I have to deliver these drinks and more, but I've got my eye on you!"

"Mira! Are those ours?" Lucy waved down the barmaid. "That strawberry smoothie looks so refreshing!" The blonde plucked the glass off the tray and elbowed Natsu. "Pay attention! Our drinks are here."

"I know, I was just thinking about jumping back into the pool. Laxus will never suspect a sneak attack while he's ghost-sitting." Natsu accepted a mug of beer and craned his head to watch the lightning dragon slayer as he entertained Mavis.

Lucy gave Natsu a gimlet glare. "No fighting today, you promised."

Gray snorted, "Fifty jewels says he gets in two fights."

"You wanna go?" Natsu sneered at the ice mage, "I'll kick your ass!"

"Don't start Gray." Lucy grabbed Natsu by the ear, "Settle down or pay the price."

"Ow! Leggo!" Natsu grimaced, "Sheesh. I won't do nothin'."

Mira smiled sweetly, "It's always magic when we get along."


	5. Guild

Today Natsu had already battled Gray three times, Gajeel once and Elfman. He was responsible for breaking three chairs and cracking two large trestle tables. The slayer had ruined seven meals (Elfman tossed him onto a food laden table), knocked over five guild mates (only four were his fault - Gray tripped him into Max), and burned to ashes one set of curtains.

All in all, a fairly average day for the pink haired pyromaniac...except normally these sorts of events would be spaced throughout the day. This day of days, he'd succeeded in tiring himself out into an early afternoon nap. Perhaps saying 'nap' is misleading. Gray had used Natsu's head to smash that third chair. Unsporting of the ice make mage to retaliate from behind, but what's done is done.

Natsu was gently dragged by his partner Lucy to the back corner of the guild hall. It was a case of 'semi gently' because Natsu landing feet first into her brunch had splashed egg yolk on her cutest shirt. Revenge must be harvested at the earliest opportunity, or forgiveness will weaken one's resolve. Feeling almost 'even' with her best friend, Lucy laid him out on a bench. Preparing to walk away, duty more than fulfilled, Lucy was grabbed around the waist by the not-fully-sensate fire mage.

In her embarrassed state, Lucy might have struggled a little harder than she needed to against her likely contused partner. Hey! You'd freak out too if a highly attractive, sweet natured, half-naked and lick able man (to you leastways) basically rubbed his face in what would be your lap if you were sitting down. In her haste to brush Natsu away from her lady bits, Lucy flailed her limbs mightily and knocked Natsu out cold. He became a dead weight, forcing Lucy's collapse and ultimately responsible for her bout of unconsciousness.

Early afternoon became early evening and the far corner of the guild was left undisturbed. Perhaps the other Fairies were just enjoying having Natsu quiet. Mira had checked on the partners and deemed them well enough to be left alone to wake up on their own. She may or may not have re-arranged some limbs.

Well, actually Wendy checked on the unconscious pair earlier, as had Cana, Levy, Kinana, Lisanna, Elfman and Bickslow. It's not like the rest of the guild didn't care, they just had other priorities; like enjoying Lucy's apartment while she was unable to bar their entry. Happy? Happy had watched this sort of thing happen dozens upon dozens of times and was inured to the sight of Natsu being knocked out.

Natsu woke up first, and his struggles to push Lucy off of him woke her. She slapped his busy hands off of her person and complained, "What is wrong with this guild? Every time there's a fight you somehow knock me out too and they leave us laid out on a table at the back!"

The pink haired boy smiled, "Yeah, Fairy Tail is the best guild!"


	6. Ultimate Team

One of the many things Natsu liked, no - loved about Lucy was her constant and cheerful nature. No matter what idiotic blather he would spout into her ears, she could always turn it into something positive.

With her celestial spirits, she was always kind, working with them, never using them as shields. They loved her it seemed, almost as much as she loved them. The 'one love' magic theory she would sometimes talk about usually went over his head. Oh, he listened, he loved the sound of her voice. It was the passion she had for the subject, not just the words that held him enthralled.

"What's with the goofy look Natsu?" Happy tittered behind his paws and then turned his evil attention on the celestial mage. "Lucy you're so weird you broke Natsu!"

"Huh?" Natsu focused on his exceed. "I'm not broken!" He glanced shamefacedly between his partners, anxious to cover his mental wandering. "I was thinking about what you were just saying."

"Really?" Lucy drummed her fingers on the rough trestle table. "So if I were to ask you who I would pick to make the 'ultimate team', you could tell me?"

Natsu ruffled his hair and gave a little half-shrug. "I'll tell you about my 'ultimate team' instead. We have the strongest and smartest mage, an aerial specialist, a weapons master, a medic, a foot soldier, an early warning system and me, the fearless leader!"

Lucy sat there, perplexed. "I'm a bit confused. If you're the fearless leader, then Erza has to be the weapons master. Happy is the aerial specialist, Wendy's gotta be the medic and Charle is the early warning system because of her precognition magic. This is our regular team so far."

Smiling hugely, Natsu nodded vigorously. "Well yah, why would I want to work with anybody else?"

The blonde knitted her eyebrows together, "If I'm the foot soldier, that would make Gray the strongest and smartest."

Natsu favoured Lucy with some mild disgust, "Really? I'm gonna have to down grade you to almost always smartest if you think Gray doesn't make the best cannon fodder."

Lucy sat there blushing and making unintelligible noises.

"Our ultimate team's strongest and smartest wizard will always be you."

Happy smirked, "You broke Lucy!"


	7. Stronger

Dear Natsu,

I don't know that I'll ever send or give you this letter. I've been working through my feelings ever since you left to train with Happy. I can imagine the face you'd make if I actually blurted out that I have feelings for you. Of course I do! You've been my friend ever since Hargeon.

You'll roll your eyes at me and call me weird. I'm not weird! I look around my little apartment and it's so full of memories of you and Happy. The room echoes now - I miss you and Happy. I still catch myself buying extra fish for that damn flying flea trap - he's not getting his own letter either.

I've been watching out for all our friends like you asked. Erza has been so quiet lately, but we've been spending lots of time together...well, all of us girls. Once a week we meet at a different bakery or cafe and just hang out. Why not at my apartment you ask? Funny thing is I miss you so much I've decided to move to your little house. There's boxes in the way right now.

I know you won't care. That's what I believe, like I believe in the one power - love fuels magic. Being closer to you is what I need to do for me - and I feel that at your house.

You've been gone so long. I've got a lot saved up to share with you! Funny stories about Gray and Juvia, you'll never guess what happened! I'm waiting to tell you those in person.

I know you'll be back, I believe in you...like you believe in me. It hurt so much at first when you left. I came to realize I am strong - you've always told me that and I had a hard time accepting that's what you thought. I existed in a limbo of sorts at the beginning, but I rallied. You've seen me as capable, smart and powerful from the first day we met.

Don't roll your eyes at me Natsu! I know that's what you'd be doing! And I'm not weird! You've gone off to train to get stronger and I've stayed in Magnolia and gotten stronger too. I have some new celestial keys! I'm waiting to show them to you.

In this letter, and I keep wavering back and forth on this, whether to send it or not...I want to tell you about my feelings and how they've gotten stronger. I love you. I've always loved you. I'm being serious! You scoff, but I know friendship is love like the one magic is love. It doesn't have to be romantic love, it never has. I want to be able to see your eyes when I tell you that, and see your reaction, then I would know if I should also tell you what I feel for you isn't just friendship.

I've had the company of my celestial spirits, nakama from the guild, new people I met... but the company I crave is yours. I want to see you and be with you. I'm waiting for you. I have to believe with all my heart you're coming back stronger and I'm going to show you how my love has gotten stronger. I know you'll be back because it's always more fun when we're together.

With a love stronger than the distance separating us, Lucy


	8. Mashima

The next upcoming birthday was Reedus'. It was decided to surprise him with a painting. Every guild mate had been featured in Reedus' work at one time or another, but he always neglected to include himself. This year, was vowed to be special and would include him. A message was sent out across the land of Fiore, and one special artist answered the call. He was a mysterious man of various talents, and very highly skilled.

As it was to be a surprise, many surreptitious pictures were taken, and a collage was cobbled together. The unwieldy mass was sent to the artist to be configured into a painting.

The art work had been delivered into Master Makarov's care early in the week. For shipping purposes it had been rolled up into a large tube and it was decided to leave it in there to heighten the surprise.

Like many of the Fairy Tail Guild birthday parties, the participants were intoxicated well before the cutting of the cake and dispersal of presents. Reedus smiled as he received many well-wishes and toast after toast to his continued health.

Finally, Mirajane brought out the present and handed it to Reedus. "We hope you enjoy!"

"Well thank you very much!" Reedus carefully unwrapped the gift and opened the tube. He let out a low whistle as he unrolled the canvas. "This is amazing! I know this man's style! I'm so touched! How did you know? My old art master!"

Mira and the Master exchanged confused looks. The white-haired beauty shrugged and smiled. "Happy birthday!"

All of Fairy Tail crowded around the table, trying to look at what amounted to a mural sized canvas of a calendar. Everyone from the guild was displayed, as well as most of their friends from other guilds. There were so many figures it was hard to get a good look at everything.

Reedus turned around and began hugging his guild mates, thanking everyone. Levy wormed her way to the front of the crowd and examined the art work. Lucy peered over her shoulder and pointed to the signature, "So Reedus was apprenticed to Mashima?"


	9. Tail

**_A/N: Pinky and Goldy make a reappearance from 'Mission: It's a Bet!' _**

* * *

Pinky the dragon yawned good morning to his wife. Today was the two week anniversary of their mating. It was also the two week anniversary of their first date, first fight, first time making up after a fight, and oh yeah, the first time they'd met.

Goldy blinked slowly as she began to wake up. In two short weeks she'd begun to get used to the pink dragon and his odd companion. She'd moved into his cave and began to improve his standard of living. He whined and moaned a fair amount, but honestly, from the amount of crap and rubble inside the cave, Goldy didn't think it had ever been cleaned since it was hewn from the rock mountain.

"Can we make it a lazy day and just go fishing with Happy?" Pinky arched his neck and preened at his bride. "We've both been working hard fixing up our cave, you deserve a day being pampered!"

"Going fishing with that foolish mountain lion is not being pampered Pinky!" Goldy rubbed her eyes with the back of a fearsome clawed hand. "I'm going to hang out with Charle. You and that idiot can do what you like."

His grin never faltered, "Great! Come back in time for dinner, we'll roast the giant lake fish I'm sure to catch." Pinky watched happily as his beautiful bride rolled her eyes at him and launched herself into the air, yelling goodbye as she winged away.

Pinky's friend jumped down from the tree he'd been napping in. He cuffed the pink dragon on the shoulder and smirked. "I thought you'd never get rid of the old ball and chain. You ready to fish?"

"Not yet, I gotta fix up the sleeping chamber and lay the table for supper. Goldy won't believe her eyes when she gets home and sees how much trouble I went through for her."

The mountain lion put a paw over his mouth and snickered, "I don't believe you even as you're telling me! When did you get so whipped?" Happy started grooming the fur on his back, lightly flicking his tail back and forth.

"Eww! Stop that dude!" Pinky curled his lip and scowled. "I told you and told you - don't lick yourself in front of me."

"Dude! I'm a cat! You jealous." Happy stopped and looked at his friend, evaluating the personal danger to himself, the mountain lion decided to finish grooming later. "Hurry and make things pretty for your wife and then we can go have fun."

Pinky disappeared into his cave only to reappear moments later, "Ready! Let's catch some fish!" Happy just looked questioningly at his buddy. The dragon shrugged, "I'm efficient when I want to be."

"Yah, riiiiiiiiiight."

"She already cleaned up."

The smart mouthed mountain lion and smoothly muscled dragon made their way over to the best fishing hole in all of the Enchanted Fiore Forest. They caught a large pile of fish, roasted them and ate until their bellies were distended. An hour after that, they did it all over again. After exerting themselves thusly, they took a bit of a nap. An hour before dinner time they woke up and bagged more fish.

Goldy arrived home just as Pinky was finishing laying a cooking fire. She greeted her mate with a coy look. He grinned away like a loon and thrust out his chest. "I caught you the best fish ever!"

Realizing he wasn't catching her signals, Goldy felt a little deflated. "That's just great."

"I know, right?" Pinky smiled and started to prep the fish. "Happy left for home about a half hour ago, so come over here and greet me properly."

She fluttered her eyelashes and gracefully made her way to her grinning husband. Goldy leaned into Pinky's side and let him rub the side of his face against her cheek. Pinky began rumbling deep in his chest. Suddenly, he grabbed her hands and laced his talons with hers. As he distracted Goldy with the hand-holding, his tail twined with hers.

"This reminds me of our first date! Are you always going to let me get some tail so easy?"

"Watch your mouth or we'll repeat everything we did that day!" Goldy grumbled at her mate who was busy admiring the shine of his scales yet again. "You're still pretty, now pay attention to me!"

"You're weird Goldy, we can't do everything we did two weeks ago. I can't meet you all over again - but I _**can**_ help you with all that other stuff." He arched his neck and flapped his wings. "Race you! Last one to the cave guts the fish later!"

Goldy hip checked her hubby and ran to the cave, "Don't keep me waiting!"

Pinky loped after his mate and laughed joyously, "You never get enough tail, do you?"


End file.
